Looking for a job promotion? January is the best month

If you’re looking for that big promotion at work, you’d better get moving in the next three days: According to a new study by LinkedIn Corp., January is the best month of the year for promotions.

But in certain industries, such as accounting and higher education, workers have a better chance of getting a promotion during the summer, according to a study of the more than 90 million LinkedIn member profiles.

“LinkedIn was launched in 2003, but our data allows us to identify professional trends that span decades,” LinkedIn chief scientist DJ Patil said in a press release.

Globally, January was the top month for promotions, probably following a pattern set by the start of new fiscal years for many corporations. However, July and September were also good months.

But in the United States, promotions spiked in January, while the rest of the year was only so-so. Meanwhile, in India, April was the top month, which correlates to the start of the fiscal year in that country. But there were also spikes in January, July and October.

Here’s a chart by country:

In the 2000s, younger professional workers in the millennial generation were changing that pattern and were most likely to gain promotions throughout the year, not just in January, Patil said.

And workers in accounting, defense and space, the military, non-profit organization management and research were more likely to get promoted during the summer.